Named after chemist James William McBain, the McBain Medal is awarded annually by the Royal Society of Chemistry and Society of Chemical Industry to ‘honour a younger scientist who has made a meritorious contribution to colloid and interface science.’

Dr Khutoryanskiy’s research focuses on the development of new materials to help in the administration of drugs, the treatment of wounds, and technology to contain innovative treatments such as proteins, bacteria and living cells such as stem cells, which could all help in the fight against disease.

Sharon, a Chemical Physics graduate of the University of Reading who campaigned to save the university’s Physics Department from closure, said:

“At a time when science teaching at universities is facing cutbacks, it is important to trumpet the achievements of those who continue to strive in the field of scientific research and innovation.

“Sadly, efforts to keep the University of Reading’s Physics Department open were not successful but this award will go some way to highlighting the success of the university, which remains on the cutting edge of science research.

“I am very pleased for Dr. Khutoryanskiy and hope to be there for his Medal lecture in 2013.”

Originally published by Sharon Bowles MEP

Chocolate maker Nestlé has pledged to clampdown on children working on cocoa farms supplying its factories.

Catherine Bearder, MEP for the South East, welcomed news the global food giant will work with the Fair Labour Association (FLA) to tackle the problem.

Nestlé is one of the biggest cocoa buyers in the world, but bosses have acknowledged slow progress on wiping out child labour.

Executive Vice President Jose Lopez said: “Child labour has no place in our supply chain. We cannot solve the problem on our own, but by working with a partner like the FLA we can make sure our efforts to address it are targeted where they are needed most.”

It comes as the European Parliament works towards a new international cocoa agreement, which aims to regulate the industry. Moves are also being made to address the problem of child labour in cocoa fields as part of the agreement.

Catherine Bearder meets Nestle assistant vice president Pascal Greverath

Catherine said: “This is good news. Nestlé is waking up to the fact more needs to be done to stop the use of child labour in its supply chain. We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to child exploitation.”

Last year Catherine called on the European Commission to stop human trafficking in the West Africa cocoa industry. She also wanted to make sure children were not being used on farms in countries such as Ghana and Ivory Coast.

Catherine added: “The EU is doing great work to try and stop exploitative child labour. But we also need to deal with the problem of child trafficking at the same time, otherwise children will continue to be exploited.”

Nick Clegg visited Bristol to congratulate council leaderBarbara Janke and the local Liberal Democrats European elections results from across the UK.
Fiona Hall has been re-elected as an MEP for North East England.

Andrew Duff has been re-elected as an MEP for the East of England.

Diana Wallis has been re-elected as an MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber.

Sarah Ludford has been re-elected as an MEP for London.

Bill Newton Dunn has been re-elected as an MEP for the East Midlands. (With the number of MEPs in the region reducing by one, this was a gain from UKIP)

Graham Watson has been re-elected as an MEP for the South West of England.

Sharon Bowles has been re-elected as an MEP for the South East of England and is joined by new MEP Catherine Bearder.

Liz Lynne has been re-elected as an MEP for the West Midlands.

Chris Davies has been re-elected as an MEP for the North West of England.

George Lyon has been elected as an MEP for Scotland.

In the local elections, the Liberal Democrats have taken control of Bristol City Council, picking up four seats. Labour fell into third place on the Council, losing eight seats.

We have taken five seats from Labour in the Burnley area of Lancashire County Council, and three seats from the Conservatives and one from Labour on Essex County Council.

Liberal Democrat candidates have defeated the Conservative group leader on Cumbria County Council and the Labour council leader on Nottinghamshire County Council. We cut the majority of the Labour leader on Derbyshire County Council from around 1,000 to 76.

The Liberal Democrats are the largest group on the new unitary Bedford Council and made big gains from Labour in Ashfield.

While Labour and the Conservatives saw their number of seats on Surrey County Council fall, the Liberal Democrats were the only of the main parties to increase their number of seats. We also made net gains – from the Conservatives and Labour – in many other counties, including Cumbria, Dorset, East Sussex, Hertfordshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Sussex and Worcestershire.

The BBC’s projected national vote share is Conservatives 38%, Liberal Democrats 28%, Labour 23% – the Liberal Democrats are the only of the three to increase their projected share from last year’s local elections.

Responding to the early results and the Cabinet reshuffle, Nick Clegg described the government as “finished” and called for a general election. He said, “The Labour government has run out of road, it’s finished. We need something new, different, fresh.”

“This government can no longer govern. It is dysfunctional, it is in meltdown. We need a general election.”

Nick went on to applaud the Liberal Democrats in Bristol, saying that now “the Liberal Democrats run the vast majority of the big cities.”

Editor’s Notes…
Particular congratulations are extended to our local MEPs Sharon Bowles and Catherine Bearder